I bought the book 20 years ago, when the author's wife was one of my graduate students (at another university). I bought it as a favor to her. Plus, I kind of liked the title.

Twenty years passed in the blink of an eye, and I finally read it. The one thought I kept having as I read the book was, "Why did anyone settle western Kansas?"

Page after page detailed drought, locusts, floods, blizzards, Indian attacks, death by wild animal, loneliness, suicide. You name a plague, western Kansas has had it, usually in biblical proportions.

I found the story particularly interesting as western Kansas' story is not dramatically different than that of the Texas Panhandle. The terrain differs; the names differ; specific experiences differ. Still, the root story of settlers making it work in the face of all reason is the same in both locales.

Their success was birthed in desperation, commitment and consuming faith.

Faith, religious or otherwise, is a powerful motivator. For example, a myth driving settlement in western Kansas was Richard Smith Elliott's supposition that "rain follows the plow." His research, funded heavily by the major industries of that time, posited that breaking the soil to a depth of 2 feet would result in "taller herbage; less reflection of the sun's heat; more humidity in the atmosphere; more constancy in springs, pools, and streams; fewer violent storms; more frequent showers, and less caprice and fury in the winds."

Farmers placed faith in this pseudo-science, only to learn the hard way the data did not support the theory. Eventually, their faith wavered, and Elliott's research was discredited.

Another matter of faith in this book is Minor's treatment of utopian societies that relocated to western Kansas. Some of them were socialist, some temperance driven, some feminist, some religious isolationists. Regardless, each met the same fate. The people's faith in these societies did not withstand the inherent pressures of western Kansas' extreme environment.

So, how was Kansas west of Wichita finally settled? One key variable that differentiated those who made it and those who didn't was the faith they placed in each other. Some faith communities in western Kansas - whether Jewish, Mennonite, Protestant or Catholic - were better suited for survival in this environment. Those that survived and thrived were in faith communities committed to helping even the least among them to succeed.

This is true today as well: When our faith communities focus on helping us survive in our harsh environments, we all have a better chance of surviving.

James R. Hallmark is provost/vice president for Academic Affairs at West Texas A&M University.